The club was alive with a pulsing rhythm, the bass from the DJ's set vibrating through the walls that shone with neon lights, flickering and sweeping over the crowd in waves of color.
The result was a dizzying glow that made everything hard to see—but they didn't need to see.
The crowd of young faces packed the dance floor, their bodies moving in sync with the electrifying beat, their laughter blending with the music in a chaotic mix.
The air inside the club was thick with the scent of sweat, perfume, and alcohol, mixed with the hazy fog of vape smoke.
At a corner table, far from the dance floor, Abel and Jason were seated.
Jason was already halfway through his third bottle of Bud Light.
Abel, on the other hand, sat stiffly, clutching a can of Pepsi. A similar bottle of alcohol lay before him, opened but untouched.
His eyes kept sneaking around, staring at everything in a mix of anxiety and excitement.
